This is the Seattle Sports Blog bringing you up to date current events of Seattle Sports. This blog has several writers who will discuss several sports related topics but mainly focus on Seattle Sports.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Final day of Group play in the 2011 Gold Cup. USA, Canada and Guadeloupe. Somebody will pack their bags, somebody moves on to the quarterfinals.

By Money Mike

With a spot in the quarterfinals on the line, the United States need to do what they did in the 2010 World Cup, and that is advance out of their group on the final day. Tomorrow, the United States will be taking on Guadeloupe in Kansas City and they will be under so much pressure after suffering an embarrasing 2-1 loss to Panama on Saturday. Panama won their 2 matches and are clear to advance to the quarterfinal round. Now the U.S., Canada and Guadeloupe will be fighting for a spot. Mexico took the top spot in group A with ease. After winning their first match 5-0 over El Salvador, five Mexican players were diactivated from the squad for testing positive for a banned substance. Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, Defenders Francisco Javier Rodriguez and Edgar Duenas and Midfielders Christian Bermudez and Sinha were banned from the squad. It didn't seem to effect Mexico as they won 5-0 over Cuba and 4-1 over Costa Rica. Jamaica and Honduras will advance out of Group B. Now tomorrow, the 2nd spot will be decided in Group C, the United States can still win the Group if they beat Guadeloupe and Canada defeats Panama. So that is 6 spots locked in, so we need 2 more. The two best 3rd placed teams in this tournament will fill in the two spots, Guatemala finished with 4 points tied with El Salvador but are in the clear due to a higher goal difference. But it's time to focus on tomorrow...

United States will advance if:

They do not lose to Guadeloupe or

They lose by only 1 goal and Panama defeats Canada

Canada will advance if:

They defeat Panama or

They draw and Guadeloupe defeats United States

Guadeloupe will advance if:

They defeat United States by 2 or more goals and Panama defeats Canada

United States will be eliminated if:

They lose to Guadeloupe by 4 or more goals or

They lose and Panama does not defeat Canada

Canada will be eliminated if:

They lose to Panama and Guadeloupe defeats United States by 4 or more goals